The invention is in the field of wire harness making. Wire harnesses are used in electrical appliances, aircraft, boats, automobiles, and electronic equipment where printed circuit boards are not possible. Despite what is obviously an enormous number of harnesses that are needed constantly, harness making technology is not particularly advanced.
Typically, according to present techniques a layout board is used on which nails or pegs are positioned at strategic points where the wires break out, or make a bend. The operator has an instruction sheet or manual informing him or her where each wire goes, and what color it is. The operator bends the wires around the appropriate nails or pegs and then wraps the various bundles and branches of wires with tape, string, or special plastic wrappers which automatically form a closed loop when one end is pulled through an opening in the other end.
Along a typical harness there are positions that are taped or bundled as described above which are called "breakout" points where certain of the wires are diverted from the main bundle to be connected later to one or more electrical connectors. There are some specially designed devices to help order and identify wires at breakout points, one commercially marketed version being similar to its description in U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,301. The marketed version of the device shown in that patent is functionally very similar to the illustrations although the side walls are toothed strips made of plastic. Another device marketed under the trademark "Panduct" utilizes a channel-shaped metallic member with slotted sides through which the breakout wires pass, and a sliding cover which is longitudinally inserted over the open-ended edges of the channel. This device is used primarily with large wires in industrial applications where heavy machinery is being wired.
There is no comprehensive, efficient system utilized for preparing wire harnesses which permits the orderly breaking out of wires at different breakout points and identifies the wires automatically at the breakout point, gives information about the sources and destination of each wire, and also indicates the manner in which the wires must be stripped and the type of connector or terminal that will be attached to the broken out wires without requiring the operator to refer to outside instructions or manuals.